From the Mind of Meegs

Yesterday, on a day when most of the people I saw were buzzing with enthusiasm about the election, I saw a woman with a button affixed to her purse that said, "Same shit. Different president." Eight years ago, I might have agreed. Four years ago, I would have agreed. Apathy and cynicism are familiar emotions to all of us, or at least for me.

But this election was different. And the dominating victory of Barack Obama confirms that I am not alone in that sentiment.

I am proud today to say that I voted for Barack Obama. I am proud today to say that my vote played a small part in history. I am proud today to say that I support a president who believes that the lives of Americans and the lives of Iraqis are not meant to be sacrificed for an ill-conceived cause. I am proud today to say that I support a president who believes that health care should be available to all people--and who has a commitment to make that happen. I am proud today to say I support a president who offers us more than just empty rhetoric on abortion. I am proud today to say I support a president who advocates on behalf of the least of these. I am proud today to say that I support a president who reaches across aisles and across borders to bring about the change we seek.

Tomorrow isn't guaranteed to anyone. We don't know what the next fours years hold, or what the next eight years hold, much less what is beyond those. Of course, I like many others am full of confidence that we can accomplish the goals that our citizenry endorsed by casting their votes for Obama. Yet I am realistic enough to know that it may not happen as we hope or expect.

But uncertainty of tomorrow doesn't render today meaningless. If anything, the uncertainty of tomorrow makes our todays all the more poignant. And today we have a fresh reminder that a nation can change. We have a reminder that a group of people once enslaved and once ostracized can claim a voice on the widest stage possible. And we have a reminder that, more than 140 years after Lincoln envision a just and lasting peace, achieved with malice for none and charity for all, our nation is still capable of making progress toward that goal. Whatever happens, for one day we got it right.

Sometimes we need the dumb idealists. The dumb idealists will probably be wrong more often than the realists will be. But when the idealists are right, they are the ones that change the world. We need people who charge out at the risk of looking like an idiot, because without those people we'd all become despairing realists. We might never get caught overreaching, but our world would grind to halt.

Ultimately, the faith I have chosen means that my hope is not in governments. My obligations as a daughter, a sister, a friend, a granddaughter, a cousin, a niece, an American, and yes, as a Christian, don't change because Barack Obama is now the president-elect. Nor would they change if John McCain were the president-elect. And yet, I refuse to go to the extreme position that says we as Christians should avoid politics because that's not what's going to change the world. To me, that is just a pious version of "Same shit. Different president."

I do not believe in the power of man to change the world. But I do believe in the power of a God who has chosen to work through human culture to accomplish things he could certainly accomplish much easier with a lightening bolt or two. I believe in a God who redeems instead of obliterating, and that even goes for imperfect institutions like the government. The presidency might look like a hopelessly ineffective exercise rolled up in the allure of power, but I still believe God is in Washington. It's a long held creed of Christians everywhere that God uses each of us, even though I don't know what we any of us are except ineffective and power-seeking.

We err when we put our trust in the instrument (government) instead of the artist who is writing the music. But that doesn't mean we despise the instrument.

I still respect John McCain. I think he's an admirable man and a devoted servant, and I hope he remains in government for as long as he is able. But in the end, I think McCain misfired badly. He had little to offer America except anger, fear and reactionary politics. He lost many of the traits that had defined his public career. History was accelerating, and he was caught flat-footed.

I wish McCain the best. But the country is at a crossroads. And Obama is, I believe, best suited to lead us as we navigate this critical juncture.